1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for providing simultaneous support for multiple master keys at an access point in a wireless communication system.
2. Introduction
Recently, there has been a shift towards wireless technologies resulting in a surge of wireless products. Wireless versions exist for nearly all products. An area of wireless technology that has seen significant growth over the past decade is wireless networking, and more specifically Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). WLANs are becoming more prevalent, and are available nearly everywhere. Cities are deploying city-wide wireless networks, wireless connectivity is available in businesses, homes, libraries, airports, and even coffee shops. The benefits of wireless networks are undeniable. They are extremely convenient, providing increased mobility and efficiency. Furthermore, wireless networks are easy to expand, and easy to deploy. However, despite all the benefits of wireless networks, issues of security exist with WLANs.
The IEEE 802.11 protocol is a governing standard for WLANs. As wireless networking technology has developed, the IEEE 802.11 standard has undergone multiple amendments. Each amendment is aimed to address specific shortcomings of wireless networks. See, for example, IEEE 802.11-2007 IEEE Standard for Information technology-Telecommunications and information exchange between systems-Local and metropolitan area networks-Specific requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications. These amendments are designated by a letter following “802.11,” and have introduced various improvements on the original 802.11 standard. The 802.11b and 802.11g standards are two modulation amendments that are widely used for implementing home wireless networks. The 802.11i standard is an amendment to the 802.11 standard implementing various security mechanisms for wireless networks. In accordance with the 802.11i standard, the WiFi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) protocol supplemented the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) and WiFi Protected Access (WPA) protocols. WPA is a software/firmware improvement over Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WPA and WPA2 may use a master key, such as a pre-shared Shared Key (PSK), to establish a secure link using an 8 to 63 character pass-phrase. The PSK may also be entered as a 64 character hexadecimal string.
In general, WLAN enables wireless devices within the coverage area of the access point to communicate with one another and, through an associated infrastructure, with other devices that are coupled to another network. For example, an 802.11-based access point may provide connectivity to enable a wireless terminal (e.g., an access terminal) to communicate via an access point with another network (e.g., a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet), or peripherals on the WLAN, such as a printer, scanner, storage device, etc.
The access point is typically configured to have only one master key that provides access to the WLAN. This master key does not discriminate amongst the users that use it to access the WLAN through the access point, and allows unfettered access to the WLAN for any user that uses the master key. In other words, typical access points cannot provide different access privileges to different users when each user uses the single master key.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus for providing simultaneous support for multiple master keys at an access point in a wireless communication system, such as WLAN.